Old Friends reunited again
by IonicStorm
Summary: Set more than a decade after Ash vs. The Elite Four: Ash is a Pokemon Master and Gary is Head Researcher at his job. One night, an old friend of theirs comes back into their lives and these three together decide as a team to take on the Pokemon World Championship, catching up along the way.
1. Chapter 1

Champion, Scientist, and Traveler

"Ready Ash?" A 25 year old Ash Ketchum walked onto a battlefield now wearing a rehash of his outfit from Hoenn lacking his hat letting his long and messy raven hair almost block his eyes as he walked up to Lance of the Kanto Elite Four.

"I dunno Lance, are you ready to fight me?"

"You sound confident, I'm going to strip the title of Champion of five regions from you!"

"THEN BRING IT ON! CHARIZARD I CHOOSE YOU!"

* * *

"Professor Oak! Something's wrong in the chamber!" A scientist ran into a room making the man wearing a pair of goggles and mask over his head inside stop what he was doing and take his protection off revealing a 25 year old Gary Oak who was in as desperate need for a haircut as Ash was.

"What is it?"

"An overcharge of electricity caused-" Gary's subordinate shut up seeing Gary take out Electivire who simply put one of his tails in a socket making the power surge for a second.

"Better?"

"I'll go check."

* * *

"INCREDIBLE! ASH HAS DEFEATED FIVE OF LANCE'S POKEMON WITH HIS ONE MEGA CHARIZARD!" Lance grabbed his final Pokeball gritting his teeth as Ash and his Mega Charizard X stood with determination in their eyes.

"DRAGONITE GO AND USE DRAGON CLAW!" Dragonite flew out of the Pokeball and tried to slash Charizard who simply caught the attack charging up his own attack in his mouth.

"Sorry Lance but even that almighty Dragonite can't beat Charizard. DRAGON RAGE!" Charizard opened his mouth unleashing a blue flame upon Dragonite sending it back to Lance barely able to stand.

"Dragonite!"

"THUNDER PUNCH!" Before he could order an attack, Lance covered his eyes as an explosion of dust hit him as Charizard flew quickly to Dragonite delivering a devastating punch to the head. As the dust left Charizard, now back to normal, towered over Dragonite who was now unconscious in front of his trainer.

"DRAGONITE IS UNABLE TO BATTLE! CHARIZARD WINS AND THAT MEANS THE WINNER OF THE CHARITY BATTLE IS ASH FROM PALLET TOWN!" The crowd roared in excitement as the two went over and shook each other's hands as Charizard helped Dragonite up shaking his hand as well.

* * *

"Great...1,480 wins and none of them's been a challenge since Paul..." Ash entered his house releasing his Pokemon in his backyard watching them all run around and play as he stood sighing in contemplation before walking into his living room only letting the light the moon was letting in illuminate it. He looked at each of them smiling until he reached one...his last photo before his break up with Serena, May, and Dawn. Before he could go upstairs, there was a knock on his door making him go see who it was. He let out a sigh of relief seeing it was Gary and invited him in. "Hey Gary, what's up?"

"Nothing much, just...getting bored."

"I think I know what you mean." Ash took a seat in the chair next to Gary who flopped on the couch and looked at his hands. "Being a Pokemon Master is boring. So many wins and nothing's been as challenging since Paul a few years back."

"I can tell, Grandpa always made science look so fun but now that I'm head researcher...I have nothing to do that excites me anymore."

* * *

As the two talked inside, a female figure walked up to the door and was about to knock on the door but stopped at the last second feeling hesitant.

'...should I?'

* * *

"Maybe it was our bad break-ups that did this to us."

"Maybe...but your fallout with Misty was better than having to be dumped by three women."

"Look...I know it's hard to remember but can you tell me what is it that caused the break-up of a century."

"I...can't explain because I don't know."

"What?"

"I did the best I could, I took one here, the other there, the other all over. I just remember a call one day...it was all three saying they want out...right as I was about to propose."

"Ash maybe your next adventure isn't involving Pokemon, for all you know...it could be right at the door." Gary pointed at the front door as a joke making Ash smile until they heard a knock making Ash stand up leaving Gary looking at his hand. "And a million pokedollars will fall from the ceiling...I'm waiting." He looked up still in disbelief waiting for money to start falling like confetti.

"Who is it?" Ash hesitantly unlocked the door and opened it to see someone he hadn't seen for more than a decade...Leaf. "L-Leaf..."

"Hi Ash. May I come in, gonna start raining soon."

"Yes of course, you want anything?"

"No thanks. Hi Gary."

"Hey Leaf. LEAF?!" Gary raised his hand still looking at the ceiling until he realized what he said looking at the girl in disbelief.

"W-what are you doing here?"

"You were the only person I could run to..."Leaf sat down rubbing her arm making Ash turn on the light and look at the red mark on it,

"W-Who did that?"

"My ex-fiance. That's why I ran to you...I ran out on my wedding."

"Wait what? Why?"

"I dunno, something just told me he wasn't the man for me as I finished getting ready to walk down the aisle."

"My god..." Ash ran into the kitchen and came back with a bag filled with ice and put it on her arm. "How did he do this?"

"I was in my apartment packing up and right as I was about to leave...he said he wouldn't let me go and grabbed on tight. I slapped him and ran as fast as I could."

"Well if you want...you could stay with me." Gary held out his hand offering it to Leaf but she shook her head beginning to cry.

"I can't...I would just run away again...I ran away from my journey...from home...from you two...from my wedding...what can I do?" Leaf was answered by Ash hugging her burying her face in his chest.

"Keep running but to us...we'll help you..."

* * *

"Sorry boys for intruding, but Gary shouldn't you be at work? Or Ash at your girlfriends' contests?" Leaf was wearing one of Ash's robes making breakfast for the men who stood in the kitchen munching on loaves of bread making them sigh.

"They all dumped me a few months ago..."

"I feel like quitting so I called in sick this morning."

"Aw. Well fate sure has brought us back together!"

"How so?" Leaf turned around pointing at the two as a familiar electric mouse stole the ketchup bottle behind her while the two looked at each other in confusion.

"You guys help me with my issues, I help you two with yours."

"Doesn't sound like a bad idea."

"No no it doesn't."

"PIKACHU!" The two laughed seeing Pikachu run out the window with the Ketchup bottle in his hands while Leaf looked at him in disbelief.

"Relax, I have Brock on speed dial in case he needs his stomach pumped...again."

"Actually Ash there's something interesting you should know." Gary and Leaf whispered to each other for a second before looking at their friend as he dug into his cabinet and began to eat out of a box of cookies.

"What?"

"Well...there's this championship coming up and-"

"I need to make an appearance there?"

"No of course not. It's not a normal tournament though. Elite Four from EVERY region with gym leaders and former champions too, but anybody can join! There's no max capacity of trainers but either way we signed the three of us up this morning."

"Why me?"

"Paul was the first to sign up." Hearing that name Ash stopped eating and walked outside to see his Pokemon sleeping or playing.

"Ash?"

"What? I gotta practice if I'm going to take him on."

"He still is the same little boy he was all those years ago. Wait, Leaf weren't you cooking?" Gary and Leaf were smiling as all of Ash's Pokemon ran towards him until the young Professor got the feeling like something was burning.

"OH NO!"


	2. Chapter 2

"Alright so this thing's in Unova...I know the team I'm gonna use. PIKACHU! CHARIZARD! GRENINJA! KROOKODILE! SCEPTILE! SNORLAX!" Ash looked at his Pokemon and called out his team's names making them walk over to him. "Hey guys, we're heading to Unova tomorrow to compete in the Pokemon World Championship. We're going to be training today with Gary and Leaf so that we can take on Paul again! So are you ready?"

"PIKA!"

"CHAR!"

"NINJA!"

"-KODILE!"

"SCEPTILE!"

"SNOR!"

"Alright then let's do this thing!"

* * *

"BLASTOISE USE DRAGON PULSE!" Gary's Mega Blastoise aimed his side cannons at Leaf's Altaria and fired a multi-colored flame at her sending her flying into the sky.

"ALTARIA USE ACROBATICS!" Altaria came back down in the blink of an eye and sent Blastoise sliding back. Leaf smiled thinking she had done serious damage to Blastoise but the Kanto Starter grabbed the Dragon/Flying type and threw her away from him.

"END IT WITH ICE BEAM!"

"BLASTOISE!" Blastoise hit Altaria with the three blue beams freezing her in mid-air making her plummet and crash hard into the gound, not only breaking the ice, but also knocking her out.

"Altaria!"

"Nice shot Blastoise! Haven't slowed down in 10 years have you?" Ash walked up to them and patted Blastoise as he returned to normal making him smile.

"Blastoise Blast."

"Altaria is an amazing Pokemon Leaf. But do you wanna see something way more awesome?"

"Uh...sure."

"Gary?"

"Blastoise is up for another round." Gary sprayed Blastoise's small scratches with a potion making them heal quickly and glow green for a second.

"Alright. GRENINJA I CHOOSE YOU!" Ash sent out Greninja who stood on the roof of the Master's house staring at Blastoise.

"Ninja."

"BLASTOISE MEGA EVOLVE!" Gary pressed his Key Stone which now rested on his necklace and activated Blastoise's Blastoisinite causing the Mega Evolution to happen.

"Greninja use Water Shuriken!" Greninja pressed his hands together and made a small shuriken and threw it at Blastoise making him chuckle as it did nothing. But what the Mega didn't expect was Greninja throwing more until they hit him in the head blocking his vision. "GO! AERIAL ACE!" Blastoise regained his vision only to see Greninja knee him in the head before punching it down.

"BLASTOISE BEFORE HE LANDS USE FOCUS BLAST!" Blastoise opened his eyes and aimed his back cannon at Greninja, hitting him with a bright blue ball.

"GRENINJA!"

"USE ONE MORE!" Blastoise aimed his cannons at Greninja charging up his attack as Ash and Greninja began to smile.

"Well then we have to get stronger and stronger!" Greninja's eyes began to glow red as he did was Ash did before being enveloped in a veil of water. Blastoise fired the attack only to have Greninja jump high in the air above it as the veil went onto his back revealing the black and red markings on his head and turned into a giant Water Shuriken on his back, finally unveiling the Ash-Greninja form to his oldest friends. "GRENINJA USE AERIAL ACE!" In a sonic boom Ash-Greninja went towards Blastoise and kicked him multiple times making him roar in pain before grabbing the Shuriken on his back. "END IT WITH WATER SHURIKEN!" Ash-Greninja threw the giant Shuriken at Blastoise making him roar in pain and revert him to his normal self unconscious.

"Wha-What was that?!"

"Greninja looked like you!"

"It's gonna take a while to explain."

* * *

"...amazing! You sure are a hell of a lucky guy Ashy-boy!" The three were eating lunch as Ash explained the background of the form the two had just seen. Gary of course seemed happy with a hint of jealousy but Leaf stared at the Master confused.

"Wait why didn't you use him in your Elite 4 and Champion battles? Charizard was always your main Pokemon but it doesn't seem like he has the same amount of power that Greninja has."

"Because as powerful as that form is, Ash-Greninja is a strain on our bodies and not only that, the pain he feels I feel too and I know the two of us were bound to collapse from how powerful all of them were."

"Excuses." Gary's comment earned him a slap on the arm from Leaf as Ash's phone began to ring. The two began to argue as he got up to go answer it.

"Hello? Yeah this is him. Oh hey Max what's up?" Ash took the call outside beginning to get a headache from Leaf and Gary's bickering and smiled hearing who it was on the phone.

"Nothing much, I heard you're going to the Pokemon World Championship."

"You heard right, Gary and I are going with our old friend Leaf. I take it you are too?"

"Yeah I'm going with Brock, Forrest, and Misty. We're about to head to Unova now actually. What about you guys?"

"Tomorrow night."

"...Ash I need to talk to you about something important."

"What is it? I didn't get May pregnant did I!?"

"No not that, honestly my dad would have killed you by now. No but it is about my sister...and Dawn...and Serena..."

"What about them?"

"I know you never knew why they dumped you so...listen just give me a call when you get to your hotel in Unova. I'll explain it there."

* * *

"VENUSAUR USE LEAF STORM!" Leaf's Venusuar aimed her top tree at Ash's Sceptile who stood ready to take it and fired a tornado of green leaves at him.

"SCEPTILE USE DRAGON CLAW!" Sceptile's arm glowed green and he slashed through the attack running towards Venusaur. "X-SCISSOR!" Before Leaf could react, Sceptile slashed Venusaur with a blue X sending her flying up in the air shocking Leaf.

"SLUDGE BOMB!"

"DODGE IT!" Venusaur fired a ball of purple goo at Sceptile who dodged it by stabbing his tail into the ground and using it to vault him backwards. "USE LEAF BLADE!" Sceptile jumped into the air and slashed Venusaur several times with his glowing green blades making her fall hard into the ground unconscious.

"Venusaur!"

"Leaf work on your reaction timing. If Venusaur misses and your opponent tries to attack then use a different move to counter it."

"Sorry!"

* * *

"Ash?" Ash sat in his bedroom watching at old ceremonies from when he became Champion of other regions when he heard someone knock on his door.

"Come in." The door opened up to reveal it was Leaf looking as if she was crying making Ash look at her worried. "Leaf you okay?"

"Yeah, bad dream."

"Liar, come sit down." Ash moved to the side and made a spot for her making Leaf sigh and sit next to him. "What's up?"

"I...got a call from my mom. She said my ex has been going to the house nonstop checking to see if I'm there. And my dad is so mad at me for bailing and I have no clue what to do."

"Relax. As long as you're here with me, you'll never have to worry about that type of stuff again." Ash wrapped his arm around Leaf and rubbed her arm smiling at her making her smile.

"What are you watching?"

"When I beat Cynthia a few years ago in Sinnoh. Oh wait I remember that part." The two watched as on Ash's T.V, he was jumped by his exes who proceeded to kiss him repeatedly breaking his heart bit by bit.

"You miss them don't you?"

"Kinda, I miss the way they would bug me for watching these."

"I don't know why, those battles were always so exciting. Seeing you and the way your Pokemon would fight side-by-side like you were there with them."

"I know...I miss that but not as much as I missed hanging out with you."

"Me too." Ash and Leaf looked at each other smiling until suddenly Leaf kissed Ash surprising him making him push her off. But as she realized what she did, he did the same. Leaf grabbed his arms ready to push him off too but instead she wrapped her arms around him returning the kiss too.

* * *

"Ashy-boy? Ash have you seen Leaf? She isn't in her roo-" Gary walked into Ash's room with his duffel bag over his shoulder and walked towards the huge mound under the covers. As he neared the bed he noticed there were clothes scattered all over the floor around it and that there was long hair sticking out from a second person in the bed. "Oh crap don't tell me..." He dropped his bag and ran to the window and opened up the curtains letting all the light in showing Ash's smiling face and in front of him Leaf's. "WHAT THE HELL?!"


	3. Chapter 3

"WHAT THE HELL?!" Gary's sudden outburst from his shock woke the two up making Leaf cover her chest as Ash jumped out of bed trying to find some pants. "Y-YOU JUST LEFT YOUR EX AT THE ALTAR AND YOU JUST BROKE UP WITH THREE GIRLS A FEW MONTHS AGO! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TWO DOING?!"

"Now Gar, I know how this looks but it was in the moment and it was late. She was sad a-and one thing led to another!" Ash put some pants on and tried to explain it to his best friend who was looking away while Leaf tried to find some clothes.

"Ash Ketchum, you know not to do something like this so why would you? What if it was anyone else but me?!"

"What are you doing here anyway?! You said you would be here at 10!" Leaf put on her clothes from the night before and looked at Gary mad making him glare back at her.

"IT'S 10:30!"

"Look Gar, things like this happen. You slept with Misty the day I rejected her."

"And?! I liked her since we were in Johto the first time!" The two followed Gary down the stairs as he was raging at the current situation. "Are you two nuts?! Ash, you know I've never liked gossip and drama networks and magazines, and this is going too far. What happens when they find out? Oh god I can imagine the headline: "Master of Pokemon or Moving on? Pokemon Master Ash Ketchum gets over exes quickly and sleeps with old friend who ended relationship only three days before!" Are you kidding me?!"

"You're making a big deal out of nothing. We slept together so what?" The three went to the backyard as Leaf reaching her limit grabbed Gary by the arm stopping him.

"Look I'm trying to watch out for the both of you. I'll admit, I was a bit shocked and I'm sorry for over reacting. Can you just answer me one thing?"

"Sure."

"Did you at least use protection?"

"Uhhhhh."

"OH COME ON!"

* * *

"I hate you two." The three walked into the Viridian City Airport late into the afternoon with Gary still mad about the morning.

"Has he been this grumpy lately?"

"Not really." The three went to a Kiosk and got their tickets quickly and had their bags checked and sent to the plane as they walked to their terminal.

"Can you two just promise me one thing, while we're there: no public affection, no telling anyone else but me. And finally, no sleeping together." Gary pulled the two to the side and whispered to the two what he wanted them to do making them both blush.

"Hold on, we're not together or anything!" Ash was the first to defend them waving him his hands while Leaf looked away.

"Yeah and if we were, we couldn't keep that promise if we wanted."

"Try. Come on, boarding begins in five minutes."

* * *

"Pikachu come on out." It was nighttime during the flight and Leaf and Gary were soundly sleeping next to Ash making him smile and take out Pikachu's Pokeball releasing the electric mouse.

"Pika?"

"Are you ready buddy? Paul is waiting for us there and we're gonna take him on, no matter how strong he is now right?"

"Pikachu." Pikachu flexed his arm acting as if he was really strong making Ash smile.

"But...that's not what I need your help with. Max called me yesterday saying he wants to talk to me about Serena, Dawn, and May but I'm worried that they're going be there too. And before last night I would have been excited if they were but now I'm not so sure...Did I ever tell you I used to like Leaf before I left on my journey?"

"Piika?"

"I know but it was more of a secret thing, I really liked her and last night they came back up but I'm worried...did I like the three of them for 13 years hiding my feelings for Leaf instead...do I love her?"

"Pika-Pi. Pika." Pikachu pointed at Ash's heart smiling making him smile and hug him.

"Thanks buddy, I can always count on you."

* * *

"Hello Unova! Ash Ketchum is finally back!" The three arrived in Unova and Ash stretched his arms outside of the airport yelling a cheer accidentally getting the attention of some paparazzi who immediately crowded the three of them.

"Ash are you here for the Championship?"

"Are you a secret guest for the finals?"

"Are you dating this girl here?"

"Gary are you and this girl dating?"

"Thanks a lot Ashy-boy!"

"Sorry force of habit!" It was beginning to get overwhelming but an old friend managed to scare off the Paparazzi with his Electivire firing Thunderbolt above them.

"Well well if it isn't Ketchum himself?" The three turned to see Paul wearing a completely black version of his old clothes with his hair cut and kept under control with a small shag.

"Paul!"

"Gary too. This sure is going to be fun."

"I know, I'll be sure to take you on in the finals Paul."

"I'm counting on it." Ash and Paul smirked at each other before the three's ride arrived waving at them.

"Hey Ash come on!" Gary and Leaf threw their bags in the back of Cilan's car and hopped in the back while Ash had a private conversation with Paul.

* * *

"So what were you two talking about?" Gary asked Ash while they were driving to Driftveil City taking a highway that was built making the drive around 3-4 hours.

"You know Paul, he scoped out the competition and one of my biggest fears have been realized."

"What? The three of them are there?" Gary asked making him, Cilan, and Leaf laugh until they realized how serious Ash was. "Oh damn, I am so sorry bro."

"It's fine."

"So why did they end it Ash?" Cilan asked looking at Ash with worry making him chuckle.

"I don't know and have a reason not to care anymore."

"How so?" Cilan asked making Gary kick Ash's seat making him realize what he said.

"U-Uh, I'm sure they've moved on."

"Okay then."

* * *

"Finally!" The four walked into Ash's Hotel Room and put their bags down beginning to talk as Ash pulled out his phone and looked for Max's number.

"So how many people are there?"

"Several hundred maybe thousands! It'll take days, maybe even more than a week for it to reach the final round!" Cilan sounded excited while Ash snuck away to the balcony calling Max.

"Hello?"

"Hey Max it's me."

"Hey Ash, at your hotel already?"

"Yeah, I'm at the Cadrill Hotel top floor. You know, the one with the Excadrill statue in front of it."

"I'll be there, meet me at the pool in like 10 minutes."

* * *

"Maxie!" Ash was sitting at the pool using his phone when he saw a tall man with black glasses and his Oxford Blue hair spiked in a mess walk into it making him smile figuring out who it was.

"Ash! What's going on man?"

"What's up with you? Last time I saw you, you were a small fry with dorky glasses."

"I was only 17. So I guess you wanna know why it ended?"

"Since it seems you're the only person who wants to tell me, go ahead."

"I guess it all began a year ago. May told me to never tell you but remember when you went to Alola for a few weeks with Gary for his research?" The two sat on some beach chairs looking at the water while Ash began to remember what he was talking about.

"Yeah?"

"Well while you were gone, they...cheated."

"They what?" Hearing that, his heart began to sink while he gritted his teeth and clenched his fists.

"May went out with Drew...Dawn with Kenny...and Serena with Alain...they seemed like normal hangouts but according to May...their nights ended with them together. I'm sorry man, I guess that's why they ended it suddenly. They had feelings for them too I guess."

"I-It's fine. Thanks Max, I'll see you at the Championship Monday." Ash pat Max's back and walked away before the younger boy could stop him.

* * *

"Ash you're back! We ordered Room Service and we ordered your favorite!" Cilan smiled as Ash walked slowly into the room and pointed at a covered plate making him smile a little.

"Thanks...I'll eat it in a while. I just wanna be alone right now." Ash's response surprised the three of them as he went back on the balcony looking at Driftveil City. But what really caught his attention was the colossal Stadium with shining lights and a Pokeball on a Jumbotron right in front of it. ' _I hope I see you three...I loved you. Treated you like queens and always put you first before everything, even my own career. I'm going to show you what happens when you do what you did to me.'_


	4. Chapter 4

"Finally, today's the day." The three walked towards the Stadium beginning day seeing trainer after trainer going towards it.

"Ash? You've seemed upset these past few days, are you okay?" Leaf asked seeing a serious look on her oldest friend's face making him chuckle.

"It's nothing, maybe some battles will help me out."

"Ashy-boy look up there." Gary interrupted the two pointing at the Jumbotron that was currently showing the match-ups for the first day. Sadly for Leaf and Gary, they weren't up there, but Ash was and seeing who his opponent was made him smile.

"Now that's a challenge."

"Who is it Ash?"

"Drayden. The Opelucid City Gym Leader." Ash smiled seeing the older man's photo next to his and that he was the third fight of the day.

"Have you fought him before?"

"Yeah, in my second time here. He was my eighth and final badge but he was no pushover and neither were his dragon-types. In the end, Charizard beat his Haxorus and I got the Legend badge. But that fight was a long time ago and I know he is way stronger now."

"Gar, what were the rules for today?" Leaf asked making Ash look at him wondering the same while Gary chuckled at them.

"Wow you two must really look this stuff up. First few rounds in 3-on-3 but when Semi-finals arrive: it's a full battle."

"Alright then!"

"Ash is that you?" Ash's celebration was cut short by Brock running up to him making Ash chuckle.

"Of course it is! But what are you doing here? You have a job remember?" Ash held his hand out making Brock shake it but the two laughed and hugged after not seeing each other for a while.

"I know, but I've saved up enough vacation days so I could come here. And Nurse Joy promised me she would take over my shifts until I got back."

"You came with Max, Misty, and Forrest right? Where are they?"

"Inside getting some seats for us, our matches aren't until tomorrow."

"Alright man, I'm going to head to the Locker Rooms to get ready. You guys gonna cheer me on?" Ash began to walk away but looked at his friend who smiled back at him giving a thumbs up.

"Of course."

"Why wouldn't we?"

"Good luck Ash." Ash teared up a little seeing who his true friends were and left giving them a thumbs up leaving the three but Leaf was smiling and blushing at him.

* * *

"WELCOME TO THE POKEMON WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP!" The inside of the stadium was dark as a voice echoed throughout as the tournament began and a light began to shine in the middle as the Pokemon League President Charles Goodshow appeared scratching his chin. "Here to start us off is the League President, Charles Goodshow!"

"Hello trainers! I can see you all are very excited for this tournament because I personally am as well. This tournament was made for all trainers to show what they got no matter the title, from Rookie to Ace, Gym Leader to Elite Four member, or Champion to Master. The winner of this tournament shall not only be named the greatest Pokemon Trainer of all time and entered into the eternal Hall of Fame. But they will also receive a set of six Master Balls each with a very special Pokemon inside. Now get ready because it's time to begin!" Mr. Goodshow made his speech making the entire stadium roar in excitement. "Now to start us off is the battle between Brycen, the Icirrius City Gym Leader against Volker, the Sunnyshore Gym Leader from Sinnoh!"

* * *

"Come on Volkner." Ash was putting on his gloves and cracking the bones in his body watching the battle currently going on between Brycen's Beartic and Volkner's Luxray. Ash smiled seeing Luxray use Iron Tail on Beartic's stomach knocking the Ice-type out and being Brycen's third pokemon, the victory went to Volkner.

"NEXT UP IS BRUNO OF THE KANTO ELITE FOUR VERSUS BRAWLY, THE DEWFORD TOWN GYM LEADER!"

"Good luck you two." Ash smiled seeing the two fighting-type specialists walk up and send out their Machamps who immediately began to pound on one another.

"Ash Ketchum. I never imagined you as my opponent." Ash was distracted from the battle as Drayden walked up to him making the Master smile.

"Neither did I. I won't go as easy as I did in our battle all those years ago."

"You say it like I wasn't, but prepare yourself. You may have bested me before but this time I will be the victor."

"Bring it Grandpa." The two heard the signal for them to go to the battlefield as Bruno's Hitmonlee defeated Brawly's Scrafty with a Hi-Jump Kick earning him the victory.

* * *

"Finally, what may be the highlight of the day: Drayden, The Opelucid City Gym Leader will have a rematch against everyone's favorite champion of every region and underdog: ASH KETCHUM!" The crowd roared seeing Drayden but cheered even louder seeing Ash. "Ready? BEGIN!"

"GO DRUDDIGON!"

"SCEPTILE I CHOOSE YOU!" Ash's Sceptile appeared opposite of Drayden's Druddigon who charged immediately at him.

"USE FLASH CANNON!" Druddigon grabbed and held onto Sceptile and hit him with a silver beam sending the Grass-type flying from the damaging attack. "NOW USE FLAMETHROWER!" Druddigon unleashed the super effective attack on Sceptile making Ash smile.

"CUT THROUGH IT WITH DRAGON CLAW!" The crowd gasped seeing the inventive strategy as Sceptile tore through the attack and slashed Druddigon sending him sliding back hit after hit. "NOW USE LEAF BLADE!"

"USE DRAGON CLAW TO COUNTER!" Sceptile tried to attack Druddigon with his glowing green blades but Druddigon countered with his Dragon Claw sending the grass-type sliding backwards. "FLAMETHROWER!"

"DODGE IT AND USE DRAGON CLAW THEN LEAF BLADE!" Sceptile jumped up over Flamethrower and hit Druddigon with Dragon Claw and then followed it up with Leaf Blade making Druddigon roar in pain again.

"DRAGON TAIL!" Druddigon hit Sceptile with Dragon Tail sending him flying at Ash sent him into his Pokeball.

"Oh man, CHARIZARD I CHOOSE YOU!" Charizard appeared and roared at Druddigon making the Dragon-type roar back. "DRAGON RAGE!" Charizard unleashed Dragon Rage on Druddigon making him fall over unconscious.

"DRUDDIGON IS UNABLE TO BATTLE! CHARIZARD WINS!" Drayden returned Druddigon as Ash returned Charizard and brought Sceptile back out.

"Amazing job Druddigon but my next Pokemon is even more powerful: GO HYDREIGON!" Drayden sent out his Hydreigon making Ash smile and send Sceptile attacking at him.

"USE X-SCISSOR!"

"FIRE BLAST!" Before Sceptile could hit him, Hydreigon fired the super effective fire-type move at Sceptile at point-blank range sending him flying into the wall unconscious.

"SCEPTILE!"

"SCEPTILE IS UNABLE TO BATTLE! HYDREIGON WINS!"

"Return buddy. CHARIZARD I CHOOSE YOU!" Charizard returned to the field and flew at Hydreigon flying around the field fighting him. "DRAGON RAGE!"

"FIRE BLAST!" The two fired the attacks making them collide in midair making the wind send Ash on his butt.

"I guess I need to. CHARIZARD MEGA EVOLVE!" Ash looked at his right glove towards him and pushed down on the Key Stone making Charizard roar and Mega Evolve into Mega Charizard X. "DRAGON CLAW!"

"DRAGON RUSH!" The two flew at each other hitting one another with the super effective attacks until they were on the floor breathing heavily. "DRACO METEOR!"

"Oh man...CHARIZARD INFERNO!" Charizard and Ash watched as Hydreigon fired Draco Meteor into the air and as the attack began to fall down towards them, the Fire/Dragon-type unleashed the enormous explosion of fire at Hydreigon defeating him. But sadly the attack didn't stop Draco Meteor and the Mega was defeated by the attack.

"CHARIZARD/HYDREIGON!" The two trainers gasped seeing how their pokemon were just defeated as they reached for their last pokemon.

"Charizard and Hydreigon are unable to battle! The battle is a draw."

"HAXORUS FINISH THIS!"

"GRENINJA LET'S GO!" Greninja and Haxorus appeared glaring at one another as Ash was debating in his head whether to use Ash-Greninja or not. "USE AERIAL ACE!"

"ROCK SMASH TO COUNTER!" Haxorus's blades on his jaw glowed white as Greninja tried to use Aerial Ace on him hitting him in the stomach.

"GRENINJA!"

"FOCUS BLAST!" Haxorus charged up Focus Blast in his hands and fired it at Greninja who tried to hold it back getting damaged every second Ash was hesitating.

'Oh man, what should I do?' Ash closed his eyes and began to think until he heard Greninja call for him and looked to see Greninja nodding at him. He looked into the stadium seeing Leaf and Gary shocked that Greninja looked like he was about lose and looked higher to see May sitting with Max and Brock. Clenching his fist, Ash began to tremble and yelled raising his arms as Greninja did the same sending Focus Blast high into the ceiling. "Greninja let's show how strong we truly are!"

"NINJA!" Greninja was covered in the veil of water that immediately disappeared becoming two blades in his hands while also becoming the Water Shuriken on his back.

"CUT!"

"Odd form, is it a type of Mega Evolution? ROCK SMASH!" Drayden looked at Ash-Greninja with confusion before ordering Haxorus to attack again using Rock Smash but Ash-Greninja simply jumped over him and slashed Haxorus on the back.

"USE ICE BEAM!" Ash and Ash-Greninja held out their hands and pointed them at Haxorus making a blue beam fire from Ash-Greninja's freezing Haxorus's back. "AERIAL ACE!"

"OUTRAGE!" Haxorus's eyes began to glow red and he started swinging everything at Ash-Greninja who was using Aerial Ace to dodge them all until he kneed him in the stomach making Haxorus stagger backwards. "NOW BEFORE HE LANDS!" Haxorus charged at Ash-Greninja and headbutted him hard in the stomach making Ash fall to his knees feeling the pain.

"Not...until we prove we become the strongest! WATER SHURIKEN!" The two stood up and Ash-Greninja grabbed his Water Shuriken and threw the weapon so quick and so hard, it disappeared from everyone's sight until an explosion hitting Haxorus making him fall over. "END IT WITH AERIAL ACE!" Haxorus stood up but was sent high into the sky by Ash-Greninja hitting him in the jaw with his glowing knee before drop kicking him with the same move. When the dust settled after Haxorus crashed into the floor, the crowd cheered seeing he was defeated and that the victor was Ash.

"HAXORUS IS UNABLE TO BATTLE! GRENINJA WINS AND THAT MEANS THE VICTOR IS ASH KETCHUM!" Greninja returned to normal and Ash smiled at him giving him a thumbs up until the two collapsed on the floor due the strain the form had on their bodies.


	5. Chapter 5

"Huh? Where am I?" Ash woke up late in the afternoon and looked to see that he was in his Hotel room with no one in sight. Or that's what he thought.

"What the hell was that?" Ash looked forward to see Paul glaring at him looking like he was ready to tear him apart. "We've been friends for 15 years and we have battled countless times. Tell me: WHAT WAS THAT FORM GRENINJA USED TO BEAT HAXORUS!"

"It's called the Ash-Greninja form. It happens when our bond reaches its limit and a change happens within Greninja that changes his appearance to the point where he looks like me. It happened once, hundreds of years ago between a man and his Floette giving it a new flower to hold on to. That flower was dubbed the Eternal Flower because the way it came about gave the Floette eternal life. This form synchronizes me and Greninja so that I can feel what he feels and because of that form, Greninja is one of my biggest power houses." Ash explained the form's background to Paul who looked at him with so much disbelief, he was holding back a laugh. "The bad part about is what it does to our bodies, it gives Greninja an awesome power boost but when he gets hurt I feel that pain too and when our emotions overload, we collapse."

"So you expect me to believe that-"

"I don't expect you to but I want you to know that you're one of the only people I know can bring that form to its truest potential but recently I've felt like I can't even bring those feelings out anymore...today's was from pure anger when I saw-"

"May?"

"How did you know?"

"Well when you passed out, Gary and Leaf rushed from the stands with Brock and they brought you here to rest after some doctors checked to see what was wrong with you. May came in after they left and she didn't know that I was still here."

"Did she say anything?"

"She said something about when you wake up to give her a call, you still have her number."

"Why would I want to talk to her anyWAY!" Ash got out of bed and when he stood up straight, he felt a painful sensation in his stomach and saw an enormous bruise in the middle of his stomach.

"The doctors were surprised you got something that huge from doing nothing, they were also surprised because Greninja had the same."

"I told you, all pain he feels I feel. I never knew it meant bruises too."

"So what are you going to do?" Paul asked opening a bottle of water and looking out the screen door at the stadium.

"About what?"

"May. Dawn and Serena are obviously over you because they didn't even care about showing up but May did. Ketchum you need to focus, you're a Pokemon Master! Act like someone who deserves that title!" Paul slapped Ash when he said that and left making him sigh and grab his phone looking for May's number.

"Oh man I hope this isn't a mistake." He found her number and dialed it waiting for her to answer. He sighed in relief hearing it go straight to voicemail. "Listen May, Paul told me what you wanted me to do so here I called you." Ash left his message and hung up walking outside and entered the elevator thinking about his battle. 'This is worse than my battles against Sawyer and Wulfric all those years ago.' The second he arrived at the first floor, he was met by several Paparazzi being held back outside by security yelling for him.

"ASH WHAT WAS UP WITH THAT BATTLE TODAY?!"

"WHY DID IT TAKE YOU THIS LONG TO BRING THAT MYSTERIOUS GRENINJA BACK INTO THE WORLD?!"

"Oh crap." Ash walked away through the back of the Hotel thanks to some of the staff and walked towards the Pokemon Center. When he arrived there, he saw several young trainers with their Pokemon making him smile as he walked to the battlefield in the back. Ash smiled seeing the battlefield and sent out his team that he used earlier in the day. "Hey guys, look I'm sorry for today. Especially you buddy." Ash apologized to the three especially Greninja making them smile and nod.

"Ninja."

"Char."

"Sceptile."

"Thanks you guys." He hugged the three and was beginning to return them to their Pokeballs when he heard someone walk up to him.

"Well well, it's been a while." He turned around to see Tierno from his Kalos Journey who managed to slim down a lot and was currently as tall as Ash making him smile.

"Tierno!"

"So these are your strongest Pokemon huh?" Tierno walked up to the three and pet them while Ash was looking at him confused.

"As cool as it is to see you again bud, what are you doing here?"

"What do you think? I'm in the tournament! Sadly my battle wasn't today. But I'm here because of you."

"Me?"

"Look buddy, when we first met: you were an awesome trainer with an amazing rhythm. I mean look at your Greninja, you two use a form no-one can use normally. But today, your rhythm was SO off. That's why I challenge you to a battle!" Tierno raised a Pokeball in Ash's direction making him look at it then smile.

"Alright let's-"

"But not with these guys. Ash as powerful as they may be: don't you have anyone else you can use that you've never taken out since you became a champion?"

"I mean I do but-"

"Come on then. Let's pick them!" Tierno grabbed Ash by his shoulder and took him inside to the PCs to get his Pokemon from home.

* * *

"Are you sure Tierno?"

"Of course, these Pokemon will bring your rhythm back to the way it was. LUDICOLO, IT'S DANCE TIME!" Tierno threw his first Pokeball releasing his Ludicolo who immediately began to dance with Tierno following his movements.

"Alright...SWELLOW I CHOOSE YOU!" Ash threw his first new Pokeball sending out his Swellow who immediately perched itself on Ash's shoulder. "It's been a long time but now let's see if we still got it."

"Swellow!"

"LUDICOLO USE RAIN DANCE!" Ludicolo did a quick dance making clouds roll in and begin to rain on the field making Swellow fly off Ash's shoulders and fly around trying to avoid getting its wings too wet. "HYDRO PUMP!"

"DODGE USING AERIAL ACE!" Swellow closed its wings and was enveloped in a white light dodging the high pressure water and opened them again flying towards Ludicolo ready to strike.

"ICE BEAM!"

"Ice Beam?" Swellow and Ash gasped as Ludicolo smirked and fired the blue beam at Swellow freezing it. "SWELLOW!"

"FOCUS BLAST!" Swellow tried to escape the block of ice as Ludicolo aimed the blue ball at it making Ash grit his teeth.

'I have to find a way for-wait! Is that my problem?' Ash was ready to call for a move and realized what he was thinking was putting Swellow in harm's way. "SWELLOW SPIN!" Swellow looked at Ash with confusion until it saw the determination in his eyes and began to spin gaining speed as it did. Ludicolo threw the ball in Swellow's direction making Ash grin seeing his plan about to work. "SPIN OUT OF THE WAY AND INTO LUDICOLO!" Swellow dodged the attack and moved to the left making the attack miss and it hit Ludicolo straight in the chest breaking the ice allowing it to fly back up into the air putting all of its trust in Ash even more.

"HYDRO PUMP!"

"Fly into the clouds!" Ash pointed up making Swellow fly high and quickly into the clouds making Ludicolo miss his attack making Tierno smile. "DOUBLE TEAM THEN USE BRAVE BIRD!" Several copies of Swellow appeared flying down at Ludicolo making him fire Hydro Pump at all of them surprising the two. Suddenly Ludicolo was hit in the back by a blue fire covered Swellow sending the Grass/Flying-type into the air feeling the damage from the super effective hit. "NOW USE AERIAL ACE!" Swellow hit Ludicolo again knocking him out making him fall to the ground at an alarming rate. "CATCH IT!" Swellow caught Ludicolo before he hit the ground and gently set him down allowing Tierno to return him.

"Thanks Ash, Ludicolo return."

"No problem. Swellow return too." The two returned their Pokemon and sent out their next ones.

"GO RAICHU/CORPHISH!" The two came onto the field with Raichu and Corphish smiling at each other not wanting to lose.

"RAICHU USE CHARGE BEAM!"

"DEFLECT IT WITH CRABHAMMER!" Corphish's claw glowed blue and caught the attack from Raichu and sent it up into the remaining clouds from Rain Dance making it begin to thunder.

"No way, your groove is still different."

"It is but I'm not like I was a while ago. You just made me realize something, I've been a little too overconfident to the point where I forced an Ash-Greninja transformation but not anymore!"

"Alright then! THUNDER!"

"DODGE USING THE WATER ON THE GROUND THEN JUMP UP HIGH!" Corphish slid across the floor dodging the attacks sent by Thunder before jumping in the air as the attack surged through the water.

"Use Dig!" Raichu dug into the ground as Corphish landed making the two trainers smile. "Now use Thunder underground!" Raichu fired Thunder underground making it fly out of the hole and split up in the air hitting the water again this time electrocuting Corphish. "Now come up!"

"When he gets out, use your new move: USE RAZOR SHELL!" Raichu appeared underneath Corphish sending it up in the air but it spread its claws out making blue blades appear out of it and hit Raichu with them sending him backwards. 'This must be what Paul meant: to be one with my Pokemon and not let my personal problems ruin that.'

"USE THUNDER ONE MORE TIME!"

"END IT WITH GUILLOTINE!" Raichu began to charge up Thunder but was stopped by Corphish grabbing him by the neck and then slamming him into the ground knocking him out.

"Oh man, I guess that's that." Tierno returned Raichu surprising Ash as he returned Corphish as well.

"Why?"

"Your adoring public must have heard us battle and are heading here right now." Tierno pointed at a group of reporters inside the Pokemon Center making Ash smile and shake his hand.

"Thanks buddy, I'll never forget this."

"Me either."

* * *

"Ash!" Ash walked into his Hotel room to see Leaf there worried making him smile. "Where have you been!"

"Sorry, I was figuring something out. I actually wanted to talk to you." Ash closed the door and locked it before heading to the glass door of his balcony and closing the curtain.

"What about?"

"Well...it's about the other night."

"Look Ash I thought we agreed that-"

"There's something I need to tell you."

"What is it?" Leaf sat down on his bed as Ash stood in front of her.

"When we slept together, I thought it was because we missed each other and felt lonely at the moment...turns out: I still like you."

"Still?"

"I used to like you when we were kids but now I know I still do...in fact I think I-" Ash was cut off by Leaf wrapping her arms around him and pressing her lips against his.

"I know what you're gonna say. I love you too, I always have." The two stayed in each other's arms as outside the door, Gary had just heard the whole conversation.

"Man, I guess I owe Gramps and Ms. Ketchum 500 Pokedollars now. Have fun you lovebirds, I'm gonna be an uncle aren't I?" Gary walked away from the door chuckling to himself as he got to his room.


End file.
